Thursday, April 18, 2013

Happy Dancing is in Order!!!

My oncologist sent me this message a short time ago:

Hi there,

It looks great. The report says there is a new spot in the liver, but that is compared to December. We don’t know what that looked like before we started the gemzar. The chest looks fantastic, and the adrenal lesion is no longer active.

So, let’s keep going with the gemzar!
 
Actually, I think the liver met was there according to my CAT scan in January.
 
So what we have here is significant regression!  Woohoo!!!! 
 
Gemzar is my miracle drug!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Unbelievable - Gemzar has worked a miracle!

I just got an email from my oncologist - my tumor markers have dropped from 1525 or so to ... 500!!!  Unbelievable - 1000 point drop.  I guess Gemzar is the drug for me! 

I have scans next Wednesday, and I am planning on seeing lots of regression!

Tonight we celebrate!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Carefree was fun and now it's back to business

We had a beautiful six days in Carefree, AZ, with brilliant sunshine and temps in the 70s.  Rick's golf buddies flew in on Friday morning and the three of them played golf every day through Monday.  They chose courses nowhere near the resort, so they had long days and I had lots of time to enjoy the pool.  On Monday I had a hot stone massage, which was heavenly and I won't be waiting years for the next one!

We enjoyed some great dinners and conversation after golf.  I must admit I was lucky that the restaurants I picked were pretty good and I think the guys were happy to let me make the dining decisions.

The Carefree resort was nice and a good value, the suite was big and nicely furnished.  I wouldn't hesitate to go back.  But all good things must come to an end and we flew home on a Jet Blue red eye that arrived at 5:30 or so in Boston. I actually slept on the flight - the beauty of a good sleeping aid - and then took a couple naps during the day. 

Today was chemo day so we showed up at 8:30 but the medical team was running behind so despite my efforts to speed up the process by taking my own pre-meds, we still didn't get out of there until 11:15.  The chemo is a 30 minute infusion and it amazes me how much time we spend in "wait" mode before it can be started. 

After finishing, we picked up my sister and went to lunch at Olive Garden.  I haven't eaten there in years but I must admit the soups are good.  I had pasta fajioli and caesar salad, Mona and Rick had zuppa toscana and the house salad...and the breadsticks.  I ordered the little zeppolis for dessert.

My labs were mostly in the good range...my red blood count and hemoglobin were a litle low but platelets were good and my white blood count is good.  It appears the 50% reduction in the chemo is the right balance to keep my counts in the safe range.